Wholeheartedly
by Eclipse of Light
Summary: Susan comforts Link after the fight on the Golden Gate Bridge.  Takes place during the movie.  Link/Susan friendship.


**Okay, so I recently saw the movie again, and decided to write this story. I noticed that in the scene after the fight on the Golden Gate Bridge, Link seemed really irked with everyone, especially Susan. Even before the monsters were sent to fight the aliens (when they were still in prison) everything Link said to Susan seemed to me to have a sarcastic undertone to them. Then, after the scene on the plane, when they all arrive in Modesto, he seemed fine with her, and even struck me as being one of the closest people to her in the group. I started to think about why, and this story came to light.**

**Please note that this is NOT meant to be a romantic relationship thing between Link and Susan. I always saw them as having more of a brother/sister relationship, not a romantic one, so that's what I was going for here.**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I (regrettably) do not own Monsters vs. Aliens.

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**Wholeheartedly**

**by Eclipse of Light**

Never in her life had Susan Murphy ever thought of herself as any kind of hero to anyone. She had always been timid, even shy at times, and usually had a bit of a hard time standing up for herself. She had always made friends easily, and with her kind nature she had no trouble keeping them for a good long time. But her shyness made it easy for some of those friends - and even her own fiance at times - to walk all over her.

But today that had changed.

She had saved countless lives on that bridge, including the life of one of her fellow monsters. She was on a high that could only be explained as being fueled by adrenaline, though she doubted that was all that fueled it. She was excited, and genuinely proud of herself for the first time in a long time. The last time she'd been this proud of herself had been in junior high, when she'd built a science project all by herself, without the help of her parents, and had won first place for it. She honestly couldn't even remember what the project itself had been, but she still had the first place ribbon hanging up inside her closet. This moment rivaled that one by a long shot.

She was a hero.

Of course, she'd destroyed the Golden Gate Bridge in the process, but the alien robot was gone and no one died.

Thanks in large part to BOB, she was able to get all of those people to safety before the bridge collapsed. Doctor Cockroach had disappeared for some time, presumably trying to help from inside the robot itself. And Link had successfully knocked himself out before he could do anything to help, and remained in his unconcious state throughout the rest of the fight. It was his life that Susan had saved as she picked him up off the bridge when the robot collapsed into it and destroyed it.

And now he was sulking.

Of course, it didn't help that the Doc and BOB were making a few backhanded comments here and there about the fact that Link had been unconcious the whole time. BOB had even said that Link hadn't done anything, but Susan knew that it wasn't for lack of trying. He had actually been the first to jump into the fray, and had helped the others to find out about the force field...in a rather unconventional way.

Now BOB and the Doc were squabbling in one corner, each trying to one-up one another with their accomplishments during the fight. While poor BOB had actually done a bit more to help (as he had gotten rid of the barriers so that people could leave the bridge), his lack of a brain wasn't allowing him to convey that fact, and Doc was winning the argument. Susan chuckled a bit to herself as she watched them and shook her head before moving her blue-eyed gaze over to where Link was sitting. Glancing back toward the other two monsters for a moment, she slowly leaned over onto one elbow toward Link so that they could talk a bit more privately. Well...as privately as possible in a wide open room.

Gently she used a finger to nudge him from behind. He turned to look up at her with a half-curious, half-annoyed expression, and Susan found herself suddenly a bit afraid of what he was going to say. She had always been good at comforting people, it was part of her kind nature, but she was never good with confrontation. And Link seemed to...like confrontation.

Truth be told, Link was the only monster there that Susan had a hard time connecting with. His macho attitude put her off a bit, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of him. Plus, he always seemed ever so slightly annoyed with her, and she didn't want to do anything that would annoy him further.

But now he just seemed almost defeated, and Susan felt awful about it.

"Are you okay?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

Link shrugged, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

His tone was a bit harsh, but not completely unkind. Susan offered him a small smile, "Hey, like I said, you're just a bit rusty. 50 years in prison can do that to you, you know."

"Yeah, I know," again, his tone was harsh. But something about his voice was softer now. He obviously wasn't _trying_ to sound like a jackass toward her.

Susan adjusted herself so that she was lying forward on her stomach. She could feel the vibrations of the jet engines as they flew along, heading toward Modesto for the first time in nearly a month. "You helped us discover the force field. Without that, we would have never known how to beat it. And Doctor Cockroach wouldn't have been able to de-activate it." She sounded like a character in one of the sci-fi movies her father always watched. It was weird.

Link looked back up at her, one thick eyebrow raised in a look of skepticism, "So I discovered the force field, so what?" he asked, taking one quick glance back at the Doc and BOB before continuing in a softer voice, "I knocked myself out and you had to save my sorry ass..."

"Link, you can't think of it that way," Susan said, "You couldn't have known that rushing it would result in that. It was an accident. Everyone has them."

Link scoffed, shaking his head. It was clear he wanted to say something, but he stopped himself. Susan sighed and hesitantly put one of her huge hands on his back. His scales felt weird against her skin, almost like she was holding a snake. Or even a fish. "Link, whatever you want to say, you can say it."

Surprisingly enough, Link didn't shrug away from her touch like she thought he would. He just sat there, staring at the wall opposite him for a few moments before speaking, "I was born this way, Susan. I was born with all these...abilities I'm supposed to be able to use. I shouldn't get 'rusty' because that's the way I was built, you know?" He looked up at her again with a shrug, "You get these new abilities, like, three weeks ago, and already you're a powerhouse monster. You're showing me up. And it...it doesn't feel good."

Of course. With the exception of BOB, who was born of a science experiment gone wrong, Link was the only one of them who had been born into the body and abilities he had now. He was the only true "monster" of the group, someone who truly could not help being who he was. The Missing Link was not human, nor made by one. Of course he felt a bit discouraged. He probably felt like he was losing himself in this whole thing.

Susan stifled the urge to give him a comforting squeeze, since the squeeze would probably result in more pain than comfort, "Oh, Link. Listen to me. You are a true monster, and nothing you say will change that. Not to me." She moved a bit closer toward him and nodded a bit, "Trust me when I say that I believe in you. Whole-heartedly."

If Link could blush, he would have at that moment. As it were, his cheeks became a darker shade of green and he resisted the urge to smile. Damn this girl. She had a way of wrestling her way into the hearts of those around her, and no matter how hard Link tried to fight or deny it, she was managing to get through into his. Maybe he wasn't as hardcore as he claimed to be. Well, there went that reason to brag...

"I...I appreciate that, Susan," he said, turning his gaze away from her to hide the fact that he was actually touched by her statement, "But you don't need to lie to make me feel better."

"Oh, I'm not lying, Link," Susan said, crossing her arms under her and pushing herself up onto her elbows, "I'm telling you the honest truth."

Link sighed, putting his hands on the seat behind him and leaning back so that he was supporting his weight on his arms and hands. He looked up at Susan, a smile slowly coming to his face. After a few moments, he chuckled, "Hey, thanks, Susie. You...well, just thanks."

Susan had to admit that she was a bit surprised at Link's usage of the nickname her father had for her. Link was the last person in this little group who she would expect to use the name toward her, and it was rather sweet in her opinion. That someone who always acted so tough and hard would call her "Susie," and not in a demeaning way...well, it touched her somehow. She nodded a bit, returning his smile and chuckling in return, "Hey, it's no problem. I like helping my friends."

Link blinked, the smile still on his face. Somehow he was surprised that Susan considered him a friend. He hadn't exactly been...welcoming of her since she had arrived at Area 5X. He hadn't been mean at all, and was never outright rude to her, but something had always told him that she was terrified of him when they'd first met. And somehow he had a feeling that the uncomfortable feeling Susan had around him would never go away.

Apparently both he and Susan had been wrong.

Susan pulled herself back up into a sitting position, now about five feet from where she'd been before. She leaned against the wall, drawing her knees up to her chest and sighing, "My daddy calls me that, you know," she said.

Link watched her with curious eyes, tilting his head to one side, "Calls you what?"

"'Susie.'"

Now it was Link's turn to offer comfort. He hesitantly reached out and placed a hand on her leg. She looked down at him, her blue eyes rimmed in tears that she was losing a battle with.

"You're going home, Girly-Girl," Link said, using another nickname that he had only used one other time toward her. She liked that nickname. It sounded like something a brother would call his little sister, "You're seeing your parents again, remember?"

"Yeah, but I'm still huge. I'm still...Ginormica."

Link shrugged, "Eh, that's a problem they'll just hafta get over. If not, they'll hafta come talk to me." He offered her a smile that said he was only half joking. Susan laughed lightly at the half-joke for a moment before resting her head on her knees again.

"Do you think...Derek will still want to marry me? Even if I can't find a way to get back to normal?"

"Susie, if he doesn't, then there's something wrong with the guy."

Susan looked down at Link, those tears still rimming her eyes. Link swallowed hard. He didn't want to see her cry. He had seen her cry before, when she discovered that she'd be stuck at Area 5X for the rest of her life. He'd found it almost childish that time, because he'd been there so long and didn't see why she was so upset about it. He soon decided that it was because he didn't have any loved ones on the outside that would miss him, and he immediately felt like a jackass. This was part of what had led to his awkward relationship with her while in prison. He felt like a total jackass.

But watching her now, fighting to keep the tears at bay, Link felt absolutely awful. There was nothing "childish" about this crying. She missed her family and loved her fiance, and she was worried that they wouldn't accept her. He kind of wanted to give her a hug - which was a feeling he had never had before - but the size difference would have kept it from helping much.

"S-Susan?" Link asked as he looked up at her, "Please don't cry, okay? It'll be okay, I promise," he nodded, patting her leg where his hand was still resting, "I promise."

Susan smiled, wiping at her eyes, "I hope you're right, Link."

"Hey, I'm always right, Girly-Girl," Link said, his normal cocky attitude returning as he spread his arms wide and smiled to her in return, "Don't you know that by now?"

Susan laughed, loudly this time. This drew attention from Doctor Cockroach and BOB, who both turned to face their comrades. Dr. Cockroach was grinning ever so slightly, curiousity all over his face, "Hey, what are you two talking about over there?"

"I'm just...telling Link about my home," Susan said with a quick glance down at the fish-ape. Both had decided not to tell the others about the conversation they'd just had. It seemed to be a mutual agreement made simply by looking at one another.

"Yeah, it sounds...real interesting," Link said. Susan giggled slightly at the bored tone to his voice.

BOB bounced forward, his eye wide and his mouth open in intense surprise, "Hey, I wanna hear! Tell me, tell me!"

"Yes, it would be rather nice to hear about your life, Susan," Dr. Cockroach said with an endearing smile in her direction.

Susan chuckled, "Okay. Well, what do you want to know?"

The three monsters moved closer to her, each blurting out questions about her life and the people in it. Susan found herself smiling uncontrollably at her friends. Maybe she could stay Ginormica for just a little while longer...

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**I played the first part of the video game, and a line from Link caught my attention. He said something along the lines of, "Even I gotta say, that's pretty good driving, Girly-Girl." I loved the idea of him using that nickname for her, so I decided to say that it was canon and he had used it once.**

**He also called her "Susie" in Mutant Pumpkins, and I absolutely melted!**

**I do plan on writing a longer, more involved MvA fanfic, I just need to get the details down on paper first. I hope you enjoyed this one though!**


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